Unknown Enemy
by KindaChill
Summary: Natalia has lived her whole life being avoided by the other countries. Until Alfred comes along, showing her kindness for the first time. At fear he will take her country, she avoids him as much as possibly.
1. Chapter 1

Love. A word Natalia had never had truly known. Ever since the day she was born, she had worshiped her older brother, Ivan. She had stalked him, devoted every second of her life to being with him. Natalia had always wanted to get married to him. But her brother didn't love her as she did. He totally rejected her. Ivan was absolutely terrified of his younger sister. Natalia knew that he didn't love her and never would, but she never ever gave up. Until Ivan finally had enough. Ever since then, she'd been living alone. Everyone she knew was scared of her. No one gave her a chance. All because of Ivan. He told everyone about his experiences with her, and they assumed, "If she scares a Russian, she must be terrible." And that was it. No one asked her side. And frankly, no one cared. She was that one person everyone avoided. But she got used to it after many years. Her older sister still acknowledged her, but she would always end up running away, crying. Natalia accepted her life as this. But finally, _he_ came along.

…

_Sunday_

Natalia sat down beside a tree. Its long, thick branches extended out, blocking the dimmed sun from shining on her. It was the middle of October, and Natalia had decided to walk through the park. It wasn't like she had anything else to do. A normal day for her was quite uneventful. Wake up, shower, eat, work out, sharped a few knives, watch TV, attend a meeting if there was one, go home, and sleep. She looked down at her phone. No notifications. The latest activity was only a call from an unknown caller who accidentally dialed the wrong number.

A crisp, cold wind blew against her pink cheeks. Natalia hadn't brought a coat with her; she was used to the weather. Even though New York was very different from her home. She had a small apartment in the city, since she came to America often for the UN meetings. Yekaterina had offered her to stay at her apartment, but she refused. It wasn't like she needed a psycho living with her, after all of those years growing up together.

Natalia sighed, closing her eyes and leaning her head back on the tree's trunk. That's when she heard a loud voice coming from behind her.

"Hey Natty!"

Natalia quickly spun her head around, seeing Alfred. He was tall and had large arms. His golden hair shined even in the small bit of sunlight that was there. He had his bomber jacket on, a striped button up shirt under it, and a pair of blue jeans.

"Alfred?" She was quite confused. Natalia was certain he knew that she was not the most pleasant person to be around and she knew that he could very well be at some dinner party or a date. He was number one, Mr. Popular.

"How are ya?" Alfred gave her a bright smile, his white teeth practically sparkling as he sat beside her.

_This is probably a dare or something… _she thought to herself. _There's no way he actually wants to talk to me... _"I'm fine, thank you." she said quietly. "I'm just trying to get used to New York."

"Do you like it so far?"

"Yes, it's amazing. We have nothing like this in Belarus."

"What about the weather?"

"Well, it's pretty cold…"

Without another word, Alfred slipped off his bomber jacket, draping it on her shoulders. Natalia froze, her eyes wide as she locked eyes with him. Those beautiful sky blue eyes. Her cheeks turned a bright red as she faced him.

"Umm, thank you..." Natalia was unsure how to react to his friendliness. _What is this? What is he doing? Selling timeshare or something?_

Alfred laughed lightly, leaning back against the tree, just as she was doing. "No problem, Natty."

"Why do you call me that?" Natalia kept her eyes locked on him as he relaxed, closing his eyes.

"Natty? I don't know. I thought it was a cute nickname for you. Would you prefer to be called Natalia?"

"No, it's fine." Her cheeks were a dark red by now. _C-cute? What the hell does he want? Maybe he wants to conquer my country! I don't stand a chance! I have to get out of here now! _

Natalia took a deep breath before standing up and handing Alfred his jacket back.

"Where ya goin' Nat?" He looked up at her, confused.

"I'm going to head home. Thank you for letting me borrow your jacket. I'll see you at the next meeting." Natalia nodded at him before turning her back on him and walking away quickly.

…

_Monday_

"Hello sister!" Yekaterina smiled shyly at her younger sister. It was just after the meeting ended and everyone was flooding out of the room. Natalia watched as the different countries passed by her as she stayed in her chair. She liked to stay a little later after the meeting to gather her notes and avoid the traffic to get out of the room.

"Oh? Hello." Natalia turned around to see her older sister standing behind her.

Yekaterina nodded at her. "How have you been?"

"I've been good. And you?"

"Great! So, I was wondering if you wanted to go out to dinner with me, sister."

"Sure, sounds nice." Natalia smiled back at her sister. _If you can handle it without running away, crying._

"Well it's five; do you think we should go now?" Yekaterina looked at a pocket watch Vash had given to her for watching Lilli once.

"Da, that would be wise. Let me get my things together really quick."

Natalia took her papers and binder, slipping it into her bag before standing up. She slid the bag onto her shoulder as they walked out together.

…

The restaurant was packed. A loud gather of murmurs surrounded the sisters.

The waitress sighed, holding menus in her hand. "We could like, sit you down with other people if you don't want to wait an hour."

As Natalia was about to decline the waitress's offer, Yekaterina cut in, enthusiastically accepting.

Natalia had to restrain herself from giving her sister a cold glare, for it would probably send Yekaterina running, breasts bouncing with each step.

She just sighed and nodded, following the waitress to their table. However, when they got to their table, she saw none other than Alfred Jones, sitting across from his brother Matthew. Natalia froze as Alfred looked up from his menu and looked at her again with his bright blue eyes. "Oh, hi Natty!"

Matthew slowly turned his head and saw her. His face turned even paler than it already was as he began to shake, scared to death of the Belarusian woman.

"Mattvey!" Yekaterina exclaimed as she saw the small Canadian man.

"Oh, hello Yekaterina." Matthew said in his whisper voice.

Alfred smiled at Natalia and tapped the seat next to him with his palm. Her sister noticed his gesture and lightly nudged Natalia with her elbow.

Natalia rolled her eyes, embarrassed as she sat down next to the American man. He looked over at her and winked, making her blush lightly. She sat up in her chair, staring straight across the table at her sister. Yekaterina was making light conversation with Matthew, with a small smile.

Natalia sighed, accepting it was just her and Alfred.

"Do you want to share an entrée?" Alfred asked with that bright smile of his.

Natalia looked over at him. "Are you sure? It might not be enough for both of us…"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I know you have a pretty big appetite. Don't you think you should eat your own so you can have a full meal? I wouldn't want to deprive you of a good dinner."

"Well, when you put it that way…" Alfred sighed and looked back down at his menu.

Natalia also looked at her menu. She wasn't actually picking what she was going to order, she was thinking intently, planning. _He's trying to weaken me. Get close to me and then wait for the right moment to strike. I will not allow this to happen. I'll just stay as cold as snow. Just like I always have._

"So have you decided what to order?" A young and perky female voice asked the group.

Natalia looked up and saw the waitress. Unfortunately she had not decided what to order and was unprepared for answering the woman's question, so she looked quickly at the menu, attempting to pick a random meal.

Alfred noticed her panic and stepped in. "We will share the steak please." The waitress smiled and nodded as she wrote it down on her pad. Natalia glared at Alfred, specifically remembering her telling him she didn't want to share. He smirked and winked at her again. Natalia looked away from him, rejecting his gesture and rested her head in her palm. While Yekaterina and Matthew ordered their meals, Natalia felt Alfred poke her shoulder. She looked back at him, but he was unusually concerned. "Hey, Natty?..."

"Ya?" She was a bit worried. She didn't want to hurt his feelings. Natalia just wanted to put up a giant barrier between the two of them.

"Did you not want to share with me…? I was only trying to help you. You were panicking." The expression on his face resembled a hurt puppy. Natalia couldn't help but to feel guilty.

"No it's fine! We can share!" She smiled lightly at him.

His face instantly brightened, his frown replaced by his large smile. "Great!"

` _W-wait… I just got tricked… Damn it! _Natalia slightly glared at Alfred as he was talking to his brother.

A few minutes later, the waitress came back with their orders. Matthew ordered a plate of pancakes with maple syrup. Yekaterina ordered a burger, curious of what American food was like. Then the waitress set a plate down between Natalia and Alfred, holding a large, juicy steak. The waitress smiled at Alfred flirtatiously before walking back to the kitchen.

Alfred ignored the woman's attempt and looked at Natalia. "I'll cut it for you!"

"That won't be necessary."

"Come on! Please? I want to, Natty."

"I can cut it on my own!"

"What's wrong with me cutting it?"

"Look, I don't need your help!"

"Please let me do it…" Then Alfred did it again. The puppy eyes. They stared deep into her soul, knowing away at her heart until she couldn't take it anymore.

"Alright! Fine… Cut the damn steak…" She rolled her eyes and sighed, relieved as he looked down at the steak and began to cut it. Natalia closed her eyes, waiting, when she felt his finger poke her arm, again. Alfred held a fork up to her mouth, steak stabbed at the end. "Open up, Natty!"

Natalia raised an eyebrow. "I don't want to be fed!"

"Aww, why not?"

"I'm a grown adult! I can feed myself! We went over this!"

Meanwhile, Yekaterina and Matthew were watching intently at their siblings bicker.

"But I want to feed you!"

"I'm not a baby!" Natalia, getting irritated, grabbed the fork from his hand and ate the slice of meat. "See? Look at that! Isn't that a miracle?" She said with heavy sarcasm.

Alfred sighed sadly, picking at his plate of food with his fork. "I just wanted to help, Natty…" He murmured quietly.

_I'm not falling for his fake innocence act again. It's all an act. _Natalia continued to eat her meal in silence. Alfred wasn't talking either. That was strange for him, since he was a loud-mouth. Yekaterina sensed the tension and decided to lighten it.

"So sister, how is the steak?"

"Oh, it's fine. And your hamburger?"

"It's great! But to think… a poor cow died in the making of it…"

Alfred perked up at the mention of his American food. "But think; are vegetables as delicious as that cow?"

Yekaterina looked down at her burger. "I guess not."

"Bingo." Alfred laughed brightly, but quickly went back to eating the steak silently.

Natalia leaned back in her chair and sighed. "I'm stuffed."

Alfred looked over at her, smiling softly. "So the steak must've been good?"

"Yes delicious."

"I'm glad you liked it." He pushed his empty plate away and looked across the table, both Yekaterina and Matthew still eating. Alfred turned back to Natalia. "Can I drive you home?" He said, giving her that same bright smile.

_I kind of feel bad about earlier. Maybe I should let him do this one thing. It won't kill me. _Natalia nodded at him, smiling back at Alfred.

Even though it seemed almost impossible, his smile grew bigger and brighter than she had ever seen it before.


	2. Chapter 2

Natalia stepped out of the restaurant with Alfred onto the sidewalk.

"So where's your car?"

Alfred smirked. "Well, it's not really a car." He raised his finger, and pointed at a red motorcycle on the side of the street with two helmets on the black seat.

"S-surely you can be serious?"

"Why? What's wrong?" Alfred looked concerned.

"Motorcycles are death traps!"

"When a novice is driving, yes. But I've been driving for years! Come on, trust me."

Natalia sighed and nodded. "Okay, fine. You can drive me…" With that, Alfred smiled and ran over to the motorcycle, getting on. She walked over to him and sat on the back seat of the bike.

"You better hold on tight." Alfred said after Natalia put her helmet on. She wrapped her arms around him snugly. Alfred smirked and started the motorcycle before zooming away.

Wind whipped against Natalia's face, blowing her hair back. She smiled brightly as she rested her head on Alfred's back. He felt her and smiled as well as they zoomed through the streets of New York.

"Wait," Natalia yelled over the wind. "You don't even know where I live!"

"Oh ya! That's important, isn't it?"

She laughed with him and looked around. Surprisingly, she was having a great time. She wasn't afraid of him anymore. "So where are we going?"

"My place?"

"Oh, okay!" Natalia blushed, grateful he couldn't see her embarrassment.

Alfred slowed down, pulling up to a four story building. "Here it is!"

They came to a stop and Natalia hopped off. "Oh you have an apartment too?"

"No, the whole building's mine, it's a condo." He smiled and offered his hand to her.

"Wow…" Natalia took his hand as he opened the door for her. When they stepped inside, Natalia was amazed at his home. The walls were large and white, many pictures hanging on them of famous actors and different countries. A large black leather couch was placed in a large living room to the left, in front with a large plasma screen TV. On the right was a large kitchen, with white wooden cabinets and dark grey, granite counters. Reddish brown stairs led to the next story. "This place is amazing!"

"Isn't it? And I got it for a great deal!"

Natalia smiled. "Awesome."

Alfred walked over to the kitchen. "Do you want something to drink? Coffee? Tea? Soda? Beer?"

"Do you have vodka?"

"Oh," Alfred smirked. "Ya, I do." He pulled out a large bottle of vodka and set it down on the counter. Alfred reached into a cabinet and pulled out two shot glasses, pouring vodka into each of them. He handed her one and held his glass up. "Cheers!"

She smiled and accepted the glass, holding it up as well. "Cheers!" She quickly downed he drink and sighed softly. Alfred finished his and poured her another shot. She drank the next one. And the next one. And the next one. After a few shots, Natalia sat down on the couch laughing lightly. Alfred sat next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders casually. Natalia smiled and leaned against him, drunk.

He noticed her state, however he wasn't drunk. He only had two shots, while Natalia had six. Alfred kissed the top of her head gently, making her blush lightly as she laughed more. He leaned in, planning to kiss her, but stopped and backed his head away. Natalia looked at him, confused.

"You can stay here for the night…" He proposed.

"Where would I sleep?" Natalia started to slightly come back to her senses, despite the shots.

"There's a guest bedroom if you prefer to stay there." Alfred stood up, helping her stand up as well.

"Oh, okay." She smiled lightly as he picked her up, and carried her to the bedroom upstairs. Alfred just didn't want her to fall down in her drunken state. It'd be a shame if she got hurt.

Alfred set Natalia on the bed and smiled. "If you need anything, my room's right across from yours okay?"

Natalia nodded slightly before falling asleep.

_Tuesday_

…

Natalia woke up to the smell of coffee. She opened her eyes, finding herself in Alfred's house. _Oh ya. I forgot… I went home with him… _She sat up slowly, stretching. Then she felt a throbbing pain through her head. _And I got drunk. God knows what happened last night. _She yawned and shuffled down the stairs, into the kitchen. Alfred was reading the newspaper at the table. "Good morning…" she mumbled.

Alfred looked up and smiled. "Good morning. How'd you sleep?"

She sat down at the table, her hair a mess. "Good… Thank you for letting me stay for the night."

"Not a problem! Come over whenever you like."

She nodded and leaned back in her chair.

"I'm guessing you have a head ache right?"

"How'd ya guess?"

"Well, you did have a couple of drinks last night."

Natalia laughed lightly and looked at him. "What even happened?"

"Well, you drank about 6-8 shots of vodka. Then I carried you up to the bedroom and you passed out."

"That's it?"

"Pretty much."

She looked around and located a clock on the wall. It was 1:00 in the afternoon. "Hey, isn't it a little late for coffee? It's more of a morning thing."

"Is it? I usually wake up at this time."

"Every day?"

He nodded and stood up, pouring coffee into two mugs and handed one to her.

"Wow, must be nice." Natalia took a small sip of the coffee, the hot liquid running down her throat and warming her body.

"Wait, do we have a meeting today?" He looked back down at his paper casually.

"Ya, at noon. W-wait..." Panic built up in her chest as she pieced things together and stood up quickly. "We have to leave now!"

Alfred looked up and shrugged, looking back down. "We're too late already. There's no point in going. They're usually only 3 hours."

"Do you hear yourself?"

"Ya? What about it?"

"We have to go or we'll get in trouble! A three hour meeting must be important, and it's our jobs! Come on!" Natalia grabbed her phone out of a small pocket in her dress. She had 3 missed calls and 5 messages all from her sister, asking about where she was.

"It's one meeting! They won't mind. Tell them you got the flu and I got food poisoning."

"B-but… That's lying."

"Fine." He sighed and leaned back on his chair, making it stand on two legs. "You can go ahead then."

Natalia stood, staring at him and wondering what she should do. She just sighed, seeing his point of view and sat back down across from him.

Alfred smirked behind his newspaper. "Isn't this better than taking notes at a meeting?"

She just nodded silently and rested her chin on her palm. "Do you skip out on meetings all the time?"

He laughed lightly. "Yup!"

"And no one cares?"

"Well, England will give me some crap about from time to time but besides from that, no."

Natalia sighed again and took another sip of her coffee. "So what are we going to do today?"

Alfred looked up from his paper and smirked. Then she came to a realization that Alfred might've had this all planned out. He was a lot smarter than she had thought. Maybe he wasn't such a bad guy,


	3. Chapter 3

"Well, what do you want to do?" Alfred asked, setting the paper down on the table.

Natalia looked down to think of what there was to do. "Umm… I don't know… I don't want to run into anybody."

"Why not?" He asked curiously.

"I skipped a meeting. And on top of that, I'm with _you _which will be sure to arise some questions I rather not answer." She stated matter-of-factly.

Alfred chuckled. "Don't wanna be seen with me? Ouch." He laughed brightly again. "Or you just want to be alone with me?" He teased her.

Natalia's eyes narrowed in response, though she couldn't stop her cheeks from flushing a bright red that seemed to burn like fire. She opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn't find a response. Mouth agape, Natalia searched for words. Some come-back to make him regret his words. Nothing came to her mind. Her mouth closed as she sighed in defeat.

Alfred stood up and smiled. "Alright, then stay at home it is. Do you wanna play some board game or a video game?"

Violet eyes stared into his, confused. "A video game? I haven't played one before. Is that like Pong, or something?"

Natalia's remark earned her a shocked stare. "You've never played a video game?" Alfred gasped. "Well come on then! We have to play one!" Alfred ran like an excited child in a toy store and flopped down on his couch. He quickly grabbed a black Xbox 360 controller and pressed his thumb to the large circular button in the top middle on it. The X flashed green twice as the X on the console, hidden in a tinted glass cabinet, flashed as well. He grabbed his TV remote and pressed the power button. The large plasma turned from black to white and then to the Xbox home screen.

Natalia gawked at the screen and sat next to him, a good 12 inches apart. Alfred handed her a similar black controller. She observed the buttons and pressed them curiously. She inquisitively pressed the main button, as she had seen Alfred do.

Alfred was staring at her. It interested him how she reminded him of some cave person, sheltered from the outside world and technology. He just smiled again and pressed A, starting Call of Duty: Black Ops. "This game is about like, wars. You play a soldier and you fight against other soldiers."

Natalia turned her head toward him. "How is that fun?"

"I dunno. Like… It's fun shooting virtual people and… It just is!"

She sighed and shrugged. "Whatever, if that's what you want to do."

Alfred selected the tutorial for her and set his controller down, curious how she would do for her first time.

Natalia's pale, thin hands gripped the foreign object as she looked at the screen, searching for guidance. She pressed the buttons and twirled the joy sticks, controlling the movements and camera angle of her character. When she finished the tutorial, she sighed in relief and set her controller down, massaging her hands.

Alfred smiled and picked up his eagerly. "Ready to play with other people?"

Natalia raised an eyebrow. "Other people? Who would these 'other people' be?"

"Dunno. Random people. Usually teenage boys."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, joy." She remarked sarcastically.

He tossed her a headset and slipped on his own.

She fumbled with the object and looked back at him. "What is this?"

Alfred laughed lightly. "It's a headset. You can hear the other people through that. They can also hear what you're saying."

"I don't want perverted little boys listening to me!"

"Please, I'm sure they've gotten over girls. They're just a distraction toward being alone. Don't worry about it!"

"Okay…" Natalia sighed and slipped the headset onto her head. The microphone stuck out in front of her mouth, which she went cross-eyed trying to look at it.

Alfred laughed and started a game. He prepared himself to play as he took a deep breath.

When the match started, Natalia looked at him. His eyes were narrowed with determination. "Are we on the same team?"

"Nope." He stated coldly. Alfred was in the game mode now, focusing on winning and only that.

"Why not?" She pouted. Natalia wanted someone she knew on her team.

"You aren't the best." He said, smiling lightly.

Natalia felt anger well up in her as she turned back to the screen. _Oh I'LL show him who's the best. _Her character ran around a damaged brick building. There she spotted Alfred's, who was shooting at another character. She pressed down on the right trigger as she had learned in the tutorial and shot her pistol at his head multiple times. His character fell down dead as she laughed loudly.

Her laughter rang through his headphones as he glared at her. She glared back playfully, smirking. "Is that how it's gonna be?"

"Yup." She smiled.

"It's on."


	4. Chapter 4

They'd been playing for hours. Night had begun to blanket the sky in darkness as they continued to kill each other competitively. Alfred had gotten frustrated with the group matches and decided to start a death match between just him and Natalia to settle things. The winner needed ten kills to win. They were tied nine to nine. Natalia's heart was pounding in her chest. Her hair was a mess from grabbing it in frustration. Her hands were sweaty as she clasped the controller tightly, now an expert at the controls. Her character sat on a flat roof as she searched for Alfred's character. There was an eerie silence in the virtual world. Nothing but a light breeze could be heard. She held a sniper rifle, looking through the scope in attempt to spot him. There was still nothing. The silence made her heart pound even faster. Just as she was about to stand up, her character fell off the roof and to the ground below, dead. She gasped and watched the replay. Alfred had snuck up behind her and stabbed her in the back. Alfred stood up victoriously and yelled out. "YES! I WIN! HAHAHA!"

Natalia felt rage consume her as she socked Alfred's arm as hard as she could, sending him back onto the couch. "YOU CHEATED! THERE'S NO WAY YOU COULD'VE BEAT ME!"

"I DIDN'T CHEAT! HOW COULD I HAVE CHEATED? WE SHARE A SCREEN!" He yelled back defensively.

"YOU JUST DID!" She grunted loudly and hit him in his chest.

"OW! STOP IT!" Alfred whined and held his hands up as a shield.

Natalia yelled again and tackled him, pinning him down with her knees and continued to punch his shoulders violently. Alfred cried out slightly as she attacked him and winced as each blow was delivered to his shoulders. Finally calming down, Natalia panted and retracted her fists. He looked up at her, scared. She looked back down at him and sighed. "Sorry… Maybe I shouldn't have been that vehement... It's just a game…" Natalia said apologetically and gently rested her hands on his shoulders. "D-Does it hurt?"

Alfred shook his head and smiled. "It's nothing the hero can't handle."

Natalia frowned and nodded. Still feeling bad, she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his chest. "I'm sorry…" The familiar feeling of a blush burned her cheeks again as Alfred wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close against him.

"It's okay. Please don't worry about it, Natty." He spoke softly. His words were sweet and kind. They had a warm feeling. No one had ever spoken to her like this until now. And his touch. His warm touch. The loving, gentle touch that warmed her whole body. A part of her begged for more of this warmth. However Natalia restrained herself from doing anything too crazy. If this wasn't crazy enough. In the arms of some man who was supposed to be her enemy. If she was an enemy of her brother's then it would be a good idea to follow along with his opinions. But since when would Ivan ever care what she did.

Natalia closed her eyes and she relaxed in Alfred's arms. She heard the light sound of him snoring. _He must've been tired. _She smiled as she felt her phone vibrate in a pocket of her dress. Natalia sighed and sat up, Alfred's arms falling to his sides as she looked at her phone to see who was calling her. She froze as she read the name of the caller. _Ivan._

_There was a screw up with my story and all the chapters were the wrong documents and BLARGH so sorry if I'm spamming you with e mails if you added the story to your watch. I was gonna read it on my phone and I noticed chapter four was chapter like… 6 from a different story so I was like "What the hell?" And so now it comes down to this. SO again, I apologize. _


	5. Chapter 5

Natalia hesitated to answer her phone. She was shaking a little at first, but finally managed to swallow her fear of her older brother and press the "Accept" button on her phone.

"H-Hello?" She accidentally stuttered when answering the phone. Natalia cursed in her mind, but didn't have to wait for long until Ivan responded.

"Natalia, where are you?" Ivan asked coldly. His deep voice sent shivers down her spine in anticipation of what his intentions were. Then she came to a conclusion.

What control did he have of her?

"Why should you care?" She asked, rebelliously, though she was terrified.

"Cut the shit. Your sister told me everything. Really, you chose America? Why are your standards dropping so suddenly? This is completely unforgivable. I swear, if you lost your virginity to him, I will-" the line went silent. Tears were pouring down her cheeks. Every word he spoke was another agonizing pin stabbed into her heart. Natalia was gritting her teeth, in attempt of keeping herself from lashing out. The silence was broken by a small sigh from Ivan. "Look, if you leave now and never speak to him again, you can both live to see another day. If I ever see you near Alfred ever again, you will regret it for the rest of your life. We both know you wouldn't dare go against my word, Natalia. I don't know what's with this bratty teenage phase of yours, but it needs to stop immediately. I expect you to be at my house in 2 hours."

And with a small click, he was gone.

Natalia stood up quickly ina panic, but fell back down. Her head was spinning and the world didn't seem to make sense. It was all unfair. So unfair. She didn't deserve to be controlled like this. _I'm a grown woman! I'm not his responsibility anymore! My life is my life. Except… who would dare try to explain that to him? And why does he give a damn about me now? He never has before. I should just comply until he cools down about all of this… Maybe it's just a phase of his-_

Natalia's thoughts were cut off by the sound of Alfred's voice. "Natty… What's wrong?" He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes. "It's like two in the morning…" He said with a tired voice. He was still pretty out of it.

This time, Natalia stood up with grace. "I'm sorry," her voice was stoical, and cold. She had to break this whole 'relationship' they had built into nothing. "I had a swell time, however I have to return home." She walked over to the door and opened it. Natalia looked back at Alfred one last time. His hair was messy, rebellious sandy blonde cowlicks strayed from the rest of his hair. His piercing blue eyes staring straight at her. His broad shoulders and handsome, tan features. She couldn't help more tears trail down her cheek as she closed the door. Closed the door on probably one of her only friends ever. Closed the door on happiness and warmth. She closed the door and walked away from the one she loved.

* * *

><p>The air was freezing. Natalia's nose and ears turned red from the temperature. Her high heeled shoes clacked along the cement. The street was empty, only a few cars parked in from of tall, brick apartments. She passed numbers of dark alleyways. Each one she passed, her heart sped up. She had always been afraid of the dark from when she was a little kid. She never got over it. She felt that the dark represented her in some way. Cold, lonely, unpredictable. No one could love that. Even though she may had a glimmer of hope when she was around Alfred, Ivan had again, ruined everything.<p>

Natalia sighed; her breath visible as the small white cloud appeared and disappeared quickly. She rubbed her hands on her arms, trying to receive some sort of heat. It didn't work. All she on was her dress and shoes. It wasn't much of a coat, but it was better than nothing. She hurried along the sidewalk, knowing the way to Ivan's New York apartment. It would take her half an hour to walk there, the part she dreaded the most. Natalia was a small, blonde woman, alone, wandering the empty streets of New York, at two in the morning. It didn't exactly paint the best picture for her. It was on her checklist of things that are not safe to do. But here she was, doing it.

She quickened her steps and hummed quietly in attempt to calm herself, which just made her steps accelerate. All she could hear was the _click clock click clock click clock_ of her shoes and a small breeze. She could make out a few car horns beeping in the far distance. Natalia wished she could fly to the excitement, so if anything were to happen, someone could stop it. But still, she was alone. She sighed and continued to walk along.

That's when she began to hear a different pattern of steps behind her. Larger steps. She walked faster, not even daring to look behind her. Natalia's heart seemed to leap out of her chest as the separate steps matched her speed. She could hear a small, malicious snicker as the footsteps came closer behind her. Then, a large had grabbed her arm, pushing her against one of the walls. Her back slammed hard against the brick as her attacker pinned her against the wall. It was too dark to make out his face; all she could identify was his smell. Like beer and cigarettes, this truly disgusted her. His face came close to hers. So close, that the man's whiskers brushed against her cheek.

"Hey pretty lady." His voice was very deep, with a slight Brooklyn accent. She was struggling to break free of his grip, when he brought a blade up to her neck. "Ya getting lonely out here all by yourself?"

Natalia winced at the feel of the blade against her thin neck. She could only manage to say in a venerable voice, "Please, let me go. Don't do this."

All her plead did was earn her a maniacal chuckle. "Now why would I want to do that?" His towering figure leaned forward as he trailed his tongue up her neck. She cowered in disgust as she suddenly realized everything. This man was going to rape her and most likely kill her after he was done. The police would investigate it for a few days, but no one would really care, so the man would get off scott free and probably continue to do this to many other women. She closed her eyes as she accepted her fate, just as she heard a loud sound of impact. The man fell to the ground with a grunt. She opened her eyes cautiously. Her savior yelled in a familiar voice, "You sick bastard. If you ever touch her again, I will kill you where you stand. Ya got it?"

The other man quickly ran off, disappearing into an alleyway. "Nat… Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" He said, stepping closer to her. Natalia smiled as she realized who it was, instantly jumping into his embrace.

"Alfred… How did you know I was in danger...?" He wrapped his arms around her in return, pulling her close.

"I had to follow you… It isn't safe for a woman to be walking out here alone. Thank god I did though… The thought of that… that filth touching you the way he did…" Alfred's hands clenched into fists with anger. "Why did you leave, anyways? Nothing seemed to be wrong before."

Natalia hesitated before answering. "Ivan, my brother forbid me from ever seeing you again… And he threatened he'd kill…" She buried her face in his chest, beginning to cry again.

Alfred swayed side to side slightly, trying to calm her. "Hey, don't worry about it. I've dealt with him before. If he's got a problem with you, or us, he can talk to me about it, okay?"

"Niet… It's not that easy for me. He'll hurt me and you and who knows what else… I don't want you to get hurt because of my foolish mistakes…"

"I won't let him hurt you ever again. I promise." Alfred smiled and put his hand over his heart. "Cross my heart, I will always be there to protect you."

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><p><strong>Super duper pooper scooper tired while writing this WOOOOOOOOO!~ THANK YOU SUPER MUCHO GRANDE FOR ALL YOU PEOPLE WHO READ AND FAVE AND REVIEW AND FOLLOW THIS STORY I LOVE YOU SOOOOOOO MUCH! And sorry I disappoint you more and more with each chapter. (it's mah style ;w;) So, yus, danke shun! I'm lovin you! You inspire me to write more! ^^ SO I will sleep now, goodnight~~<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

Alfred walked next to Natalia on the way to Ivan's house. He held her hand tightly, which made Natalia blush lightly, but Alfred never noticed. She stared at him for a while. His sky blue eyes were narrowed, looking as though he was in deep thought. Natalia had butterflies in her stomach, thinking about all the different possibilities of being seen with Alfred in front of her older brother. It wouldn't have a peaceful conclusion, that's something she knew for sure. Ivan wasn't the nicest person. He always had to have revenge. That was something she didn't appreciate about Ivan. Alfred was a totally different guy. He fought for people, even if he barely knew them. Alfred was so sweet and brave. Not to mention extremely handsome.

Natalia blushed brightly, squeezing his hand tighter. Alfred snapped out of his serious gaze ahead and stopped, making Natalia look up at him in confusion. His warm hands made their way up to her face, gently caressing each cheek as they faced each other. "Natalia, don't worry about Ivan. I won't let him hurt you. He'll have to kill me first."

A searing feeling overwhelmed Natalia. It wasn't unpleasant. She felt safe. She trusted him. His hands were large and strong. Alfred leaned into her slowly, closing the gap between them. Her heart beat dramatically accelerated as his lips came closer to her face. Natalia closed her eyes and puckered slightly, only to have him press his lips gently against her forehead. Again, she blushed darker and brought her hand up to his, resting it on his as she smiled softly. He smiled back and pulled her close into a hug. Her hair was tugged gently as he ran his fingers through her long, platinum blonde hair. The silence was broken as she spoke. "We should… keep going. Unless you want to go back home… I would suggest it, since Ivan probably won't take kindly to your face." She gave him a small smile.

Alfred smiled back at her and brushed her hair behind her ear. "Only if you're sure you can handle him. I wouldn't forgive myself if you were harmed by that bastard." He sighed and looked into her eyes again.

Natalia let go of him and stepped back, smiling warmly. "His apartment's just around the corner. And, we'll see each other again! At meetings… and we could meet outside of work, without Ivan knowing! Like, our own little secret. We could play Call of Duty or something." She chuckled softly and looked at him for a response.

He nodded and returned her smile. "Alright, if that's what you want, Natty. Well, good luck and I guess I'll see ya around!" Alfred smiled brightly and turned on his heels, digging his hands into his pockets and walking the other way. She watched him walk away until he disappeared around the corner.

Natalia sighed sadly and turned around the corner, spotting a large apartment building. The windows glowed with light. Ivan was expecting her. She walked slowly up to the door, holding her fist inches from the wood, but hesitated to knock. Natalia took a deep breath and brought her fist to the door.

Just as she did, Ivan opened the door suddenly to an unknowing Natalia, who brought her fist down on his large chest. It took her a few moments until she realized and stumbled backwards. "Ivan! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hit-"

"Come inside, Natalya…" His voice was stern, almost angry as he turned around, walking into his living room. Natalia recovered quickly and followed him into his living room, closing the front door behind her. His apartment was warm, nipping at her cold ears and nose. "Sit down." He commanded, gesturing to his couch.  
>Natalia nodded and sat down, staring at the ground. Ivan stood in front of her, wearing his same beige jacket and white scarf. He towered over her and stared at her with bold purple eyes. Natalia remembered why she wanted to marry him. His eyes were so beautiful. And he was so handsome.<p>

But then his hand slapped her back into reality. "YOU IDIOT! You know better than to be sleeping with that worthless piece of filth! Are you trying to start a war? Is that what you want? Why don't you ever think about the things that you're doing? You never do!" And then she remembered why she hated him. "I expected more from my own sister. I swear, if you ever even think about doing so stupid again, I will kill him. And you won't be the happiest either. Think about what this is doing to your reputation as a country. Do you want to be thought of as a slut? Hm? Is that what you want? Well good job for achieving it!"

Natalia didn't dare to look up. She couldn't bring herself to face him. Quietly, she sat, looking at her polished back high heels. Ivan's words were beginning to sink in. Maybe, Alfred was a bad person to be with. Maybe she would ruin her reputation by talking to him. Again, tears built up in her eyes as she hid her face, turning away from Ivan. "You're sleeping here tonight. And for some time in the future. I don't want you going near him." Ivan said coldly before turning and walking into his bedroom and closing his door. She opened her mouth to yell out "THAT'S NOT FAIR!" but nothing came out. Ivan had truly changed over the years. When she loved him, he was kind to her and cared for her. He would never yell at her like this. You could never tell what he was thinking. But he changed. And it wasn't for the better. Maybe all the other countries feared him before, but now, she was the one who was truly scared of him.


	7. Chapter 7

Natalia awoke to a bright light shining through the window, illuminating her pale features. She sat up on Ivan's white sofa, rubbing her eyes and yawning. With her violet blue eyes, she scanned the room for some sign of her brother. Nothing but silence. She sighed in relief before walking toward the door. As she reached towards the golden doorknob, his deep voice interrupted the morning's silence.

"And just where do you think you are going, Natalia?" Natalia cursed under her breath as she turned around to face Ivan. His arms were folded over his chest and he raised an eyebrow at her. His stern eyes stared at her, looking a bit disappointed and angry. _I guess he still hasn't cooled off about all this._

She sighed and leaned against the door casually. "I was going to go outside?" She answered coolly. Ivan kept his gaze on her, as if searching for a hint of deceit. Natalia just glared back at him, her eyes narrowing.

"And where will you go once you're outside?" He questioned, delving deeper into her intentions.

"Well hopefully, I was going to go home without having some ass hole mug me or something."

"If you go to Alfred-"

"Relax," she cut him off. "I understand how you absolutely despise everyone that I want to be friends with. I get it, okay? You don't need to remind me every other second of my existence." Natalia snapped back at him, getting more irritated.

Ivan rolled his eyes at her behavior and turned his back to her. "Fine, do whatever the hell you want. See if I care if you lose all your land."

Natalia stared at him, feeling guilt and sadness overwhelm her as she regretted her careless words. _He's only trying to protect me. He's my brother after all. _She stood there, her hand grasped around the cold doorknob and staring at her brother's back. As much as she wanted to say she was sorry and embrace him, she reminded herself of what was more important. Natalia sighed and opened the door, hurrying out of his apartment and down the street.

Natalia walked quickly along the grey sidewalk. Since it was morning, there were more people hustling about. Joggers with small dogs, business men emerging from their apartments and to their cars on their way to work. She never made eye contact with any of them. Natalia had learned a thing or two living in New York.

As she clacked mindlessly down the sidewalk on her way home, a thought came to her._ How is Alfred doing? Is he okay? Did he get home safe? Is he angry at me? Maybe I should check in him, just to make sure._ Natalia stopped walking and sighed, amused at herself. It was almost as if she was going insane, she was thinking about him so much. She just shook her head and pulled out her cell phone and dialed Yekaterina's number. Her sister answered the phone quickly.

"Hello? Natalia?" Worry was obvious in her motherly-like sister's voice. "Where are you? "Where have you been? What happened? Are you with Alfred? Did you kiss him? Did he touch you? Did you sleep with him? Did you get into an accident?" She rapidly questioned.

"Sister, do not worry. I'm fine. He's fine. We didn't touch each other. We just played video games. Ivan screamed at me. I spent the night at Ivan's house. I just left, thankfully. I'm walking back home right now." Natalia smiled at how much her sister cared about her wellbeing. It made her happy to know at least Yekaterina did.

"Do you need me to drive you back? I know you live pretty far from Ivan's apartment."

"Actually, that would be nice, if you're not doing busy." Natalia smiled sheepishly.

"Okay! What street are you on?"

"Between Van Dyke Avenue and Chadwick Road" Natalia replied, reading the street signs near her.

"Stay put! I'll be right there!" And with that, her sister hung up.

_Stay put? There's nothing to do._ Natalia sighed again and leaned against a brick building. It was warm from the sun beating down on it. She started to play games on her phone, awaiting her sister's arrival. From long down the street, she could hear the loud rumble of a motorcycle. Her heart skipped a beat and looked up from her phone, expecting to see Alfred zoom past. Instead, a middle aged, long haired, sunglasses wearing, 50 pounds overweight, biker dude cruised down the street, nodding at her. Long after he was out of sight, she blinked slowly, processing the event that had just taken place. With that, she burst into laughter, however rare that may have been. Even though she would never laugh or show any emotion other than neutral, she could always feel free to express herself when she was alone.

Cars passed randomly, and Natalia had grown tired of looking up expecting to see Yekaterina or Alfred, or even Matthew for that matter. So, she was surprised to hear her name being called by a male's voice.

"Natalia!" He called from her right.

Natalia looked up and to her right, to see Toris running toward her, his light brown hair bouncing with his steps. He smiled brightly at her as he stopped in front of her, panting. His smile was returned with a glare. Toris chuckled, obviously used to Natalia's hateful feelings toward him.

"Natalia, why are you out here all alone? And where were you yesterday? You missed a meeting! What's going on?" Toris frowned at her, leaning closer.

Natalia scowled back at him. "I don't need to tell you about what I was doing or where I was."

Toris sighed and shook his head. "Oh, Natalia. You haven't changed a bit."

"What's that supposed to mean? And aren't you supposed to be doing Ivan's shit?"

Toris frowned and looked down at the ground. "I was just worried… And Ivan didn't need my help today."

As she was about to say something, Yekaterina pulled up in a small blue car. "NATALIA!" She yelled out the window. Natalia looked up quickly and saw her sister. "Get in the car! It's freezing outside!"

Natalia sighed and walked quickly into the car.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey! I'm back. For like now. The chapter releasing has been a bit sporadic if anyone noticed. Well, I really appreciate everyone who reads this story and even more to those who take the time to review. It means a lot to me and I want to thank you all so so much! This following chapter was created while listening to One Direction, Justin Bieber, and Milkshake so I was a bit out of it.**

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><p>"You have to tell me about everything!" Yekaterina gushed as she started to drive her little sister home. "What happened when you left? Details, now!"<p>

Natalia sighed hesitantly. "He drove me to his apartment on his motorcycle. Then I got drunk. I don't know what the hell happened but when I woke up, I came down stairs and we played some shooting game until like 2 and then Ivan screamed at me over the phone," Natalia gasped for air before continuing the continuous run on sentence. "so then I walked to his house and it was really cold and then this guy almost raped me but as it turns out, Alfred was stalking me and he punched the loser and then we parted ways and then I went to Ivan's house and he slapped me, so I fell asleep and then I left after that and then I ran into Toris and then you showed up." As she finally finished probably the longest sentence she has ever said, Yekaterina stopped the car.

"No way! That's so unlike you Nat! Do you think he like kissed you while you were drunk? What if he's one of those creepy sex pervs and he took advantage of you!" Her older sister gasped and stared at Natalia in disbelief. As the car was stopped, angry Americans honked, screaming curse words out the window.

"Sister, I highly doubt that. Besides it really doesn't matter because Ivan won't let me see him again." The words choked Natalia as tears welled up in her eyes. She looked out the frosty window to hide her tears from Yekaterina, knowing that if her sister saw tears from her, Yekaterina would extract the reason from her skull one way or another, whatever it took.

"Aw don't think that way! You'll see each other plenty of more times! Now come on, let's get a McMuffin, you're looking a bit thin, hun."

_Good, she can't tell. So, I just have to stay like this for the rest of my life._

…

Saturday came to Monday like a blur. Natalia had been indulging in the American women tradition of watching a show called "The Real House Wives". Countless hours of drowning her sorrows with a glass of red wine, sprawled out on a couch and staring at a TV with tear stained cheeks. She caught on to the pattern of screaming and clawing as bitches disputed the same situation over and over. Though it was crap programming, Natalia enjoyed it for reasons yet to be determined by even herself.

Sluggishly, she dragged herself to the shower before dressing into her signature navy blue dress. She didn't bother to put make up on. What was the point anyways? It's not like anyone was going to care if she came wearing rags and a wig. Sighing, she slipped some shoes on and walked down to the bottom floor and exiting the building to her small car.

…

The meeting was rather uneventful. The topic was dull environmental concerns about bushes and animals Natalia had never heard of before. She couldn't exactly focus; her eyes were set on Alfred who was getting whisper-screamed at by Arthur who was sitting to his left. His bright blue eyes were mindlessly looking off at the wall, his chin resting in his palm. On his right sat Ivan, who was glaring at Alfred with noticeable hate and anger. Yao was at the front of the room, lecturing everyone else about pandas. As Natalia looked at the rest of the table, usual shenanigans were taking place. The Axis was sitting together like they always do. Ludwig and Kiku were paying attention to Yao, while Feliciano happily doodled on a piece of paper that Ludwig had brought so that maybe the Italian would stay quiet for once. The Nordics sat near the back of the long table. Mathias was poking Berwald repeatedly while Lukas and Tino scolded him for it. Emil sat silently, staring at the rest of them. Elizaveta, Rodreich, Vash, and Lili sat in a silent pack.

Yao stopped talking abruptly, and everyone's head turned to Mathias who was laughing as loudly as he could at Berwald. Yao picked out a dumpling from his pocket and threw it at the childish blonde. Amazingly, the Chinese treat hit Mathias square in the forehead, making him yelp in surprise. His sharp blue eyes focused on Yao who began to yell. "AIYAH! LISTEN TO ME! THIS IS AN IMPORTANT ISSUE! STOP MESSING AROUND AND PAY ATTENTION, ARU!" Countries around the table chuckled at the outburst. And then the Chinese man continued his long talk about his pandas.

Natalia rolled her eyes and buried her face in her crossed arms that rested on the cold, red table. _This was going to be a long meeting_.

…

Everyone began to file out of the room, a low murmur filling the large room. _I have to talk to Alfred. _Natalia thought to herself as she walked quickly out of the room, pushing through the other countries, but no one called her on it, since they were terrified for their life. Finally, she got to the long hall that sat outside of the meeting room. There, she saw Alfred come out of the room in his brown bomber jacket and tan pants. Quickly, Natalia came to him and hugged Alfred tightly.

Alfred looked down in surprise, and then realized who it was, wrapping his arms around her in return. "Oh, hey Natty!" He smiled brightly at her and pat her silver blonde hair.

The feeling of his arms around her was like nothing else. So warm and comforting. If only she could be held by him forever. But it was just another silly dream of hers. Alfred left go, and so Natalia did as well. "How are you, Alfred?" Natalia tried her best to smile and look happy.

"Well after that meeting, I think I need to go to the bar…" Alfred laughed loudly. "Wanna come with?"

Natalia's smile grew as she nodded happily. "Sure! Sounds fun!"

With a big dorky smile, Alfred ran to the door out of the building yelling. "RACE YOU TO THE BIKE!"

Watching him run out the door, Natalia began to run after him happily, her heart pounding in her ears. As she emerged from the building outside, Alfred was already sitting on his bike, waving at her. "Come on slow poke!" Quickly, she hopped on the bike and wrapped her arms around his waist, not a care in the world about her brother or work or her country. All she cared about was her and Alfred, doing whatever the hell they want and enjoying every second of it. Natalia rested the side of her head on Alfred's leather jacket as they rumbled off into the excitement of the New York streets.

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><p><strong>Meh, I ended it a bit short. But the next chapter'll be better. JUST WAIT. And it'll be withing the next week. So don't worry. Thank you so much for reading!~<strong>


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